Abstract
Background: We assume that the emotional response to music would correspond to increased levels of arousal, and that the valence of the music exemplified by sad or joyful music would be reflected in the listener, and that calming music would reduce anxiety. This study attempts to characterize the emotional responses to different kinds of listening. Methods: Three experiments were conducted: (1) School children were exposed to live chamber music, (2) two adult audiences who were accustomed to classical music as a genre listened to chamber music, and (3) elderly listeners were exposed to recorded classical music of a sad character with and without words. Participants were asked to fill in visual analogue 10-cm scales along dimensions of: tiredness-arousal, sadness-joy, and anxiety-calmness. Ratings before exposure were compared with ratings after exposure. Results: The strongest positive emotional responses were observed in the live performances for listeners accustomed to classical music. School children tended to become tired during the concert, particularly the youngest children. There was a calming effect among school children, but in the oldest category increased joy was reported. Conclusions: The findings indicate that emotional response to music varies by type of audience (young, old, experience of classical music), and live or recorded music.
Highlights
That music listening can have strong emotional effects is widely accepted, and it is known that the effects depend on several individual and environmental factors
This investigation confirmed that samples of individuals from widely different age groups, who had different preferences for music and different backgrounds with regard to music, are affected to different degrees emotionally while listening to music under different conditions
We found that arousal decreased and calmness increased to a greater extent among younger as compared to older children, whilst joy increased only in the older children
Summary
That music listening can have strong emotional effects is widely accepted, and it is known that the effects depend on several individual and environmental factors. Some individuals may respond with strong anxiety to a piece of music regarded as calming by most listeners and react with joy to a piece regarded as sad by other people. We assume that the emotional response to music would correspond to increased levels of arousal, and that the valence of the music exemplified by sad or joyful music would be reflected in the listener, and that calming music would reduce anxiety. Methods: Three experiments were conducted: (1) School children were exposed to live chamber music, (2) two adult audiences who were accustomed to classical music as a genre listened to chamber music, and (3) elderly listeners were exposed to recorded classical music of a sad character with and without words. Conclusions: The findings indicate that emotional response to music varies by type of audience (young, old, experience of classical music), and live or recorded music
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